Development policy and development cooperation

Development policy is an important part of Finland's foreign and security policy. Development cooperation is one means to implement the policy. Development cooperation provides millions of people with a chance for a better life.

Much progress has taken place in the past decades across the world. A total of 700 million people have been lifted out of extreme poverty after 1990. Over 90 per cent of the children of the world start school. Health care and clean water are available to a growing number of people. People's security and opportunities of influence have improved.

Still, over a billion people continue to live in extreme poverty. Economic and social inequality and the impacts of climate change constitute major barriers to development. This is where development policy and development cooperation can make a difference. A stable, equal and safe world is in the interest of all of us.

Finland supports developing countries' own development efforts by means of both political advocacy and financing. Durable results can be attained only through development that is economically, socially and environmentally sustainable. This calls for coherence in the cooperation between the different policy sectors influencing the development.